DGCA asks Indian carriers to inspect emergency exits of Boeing 737-8 Max planes after Alaska Airlines incident

DGCA has asked the carriers to carry out the inspections at the earliest

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on January 6 asked all Indian carriers to inspect the emergency exits of their Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft.

The directive came a day after a window and a chunk of its fuselage of an Alaska Airlines-operated Boeing 737-9 Max plane blew out in midair and forced an emergency landing.

The Indian aviation sector regulator, while issuing the inspection order, clarified that none of the country's air operators have Boeing 737-9 Max as part of their fleet yet.

However, all Indian air operators have been asked to carry out a one-time inspection of emergency exits "immediately" on all their Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft as a "precautionary measure", a DGCA official added.

The official also said that pursuant to the Alaska Airlines incident involving Boeing 737 -9 Max aircraft, there have been no inputs or guidance from Boeing so far.

When asked by news agency PTI whether flight schedules could be impacted by the inspection, the official replied in the negative.

"No, these one-time checks will be done during the night halt of aircraft," the official said.

Currently, Air India Express, SpiceJet and Akasa Air have Boeing 737-8 Max planes in their fleets.

"We confirm at present Akasa Air does not have any 737 Max-9 aircraft in its fleet. We are in contact with Boeing and the regulators," Akasa Air said in a statement, as per CNBC TV-18. The carrier is proactively monitoring developments, it added.

On January 5, Alaska Airlines grounded all of its Boeing 737-9 aircraft, hours after a window and piece of fuselage on one such plane blew out in midair and forced an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon.

The incident occurred shortly after takeoff and the gaping hole caused the cabin to depressurize. Flight data showed the plane climbed to 16,000 feet (4,876 meters) before returning to Portland International Airport.

The airline said the plane landed safely with 174 passengers and six crew members.

The Boeing 737-9 MAX involved in the incident rolled off the assembly line and received its certification just two months ago, according to online FAA records.

The plane had been on 145 flights since entering commercial service on Nov. 11, said FlightRadar24, another tracking service. The flight from Portland was the aircraft's third of the day.

Boeing said it was aware of the incident, working to gather more information and ready to support the investigation.

The Max is the newest version of Boeing’s venerable 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle plane frequently used on U.S. domestic flights. The plane went into service in May 2017.

Two Max 8 jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people and leading to a near two-year worldwide grounding of all Max 8 and Max 9 planes. The planes returned to service only after Boeing made changes to an automated flight control system implicated in the crashes.

Last year, the FAA told pilots to limit use of an anti-ice system on the Max in dry conditions because of concern that inlets around the engines could overheat and break away, possibly striking the plane.

Max deliveries have been interrupted at times to fix manufacturing flaws. The company told airlines in December to inspect the planes for a possible loose bolt in the rudder-control system.